Richmond Sets New California Record After Voting To Raise Minimum Wage

The Richmond City Council voted on Tuesday to raise the city's minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2018. (CBS SF)

The Richmond City Council voted on Tuesday to raise the city's minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2018. (CBS SF)

RICHMOND (CBS SF) — Richmond unanimously agreed to a minimum wage increase Tuesday, becoming the city with the highest minimum wage in California.

After months of conversations over whether and how to increase the city’s minimum wage, the City Council voted to phase in an increase to $13 by 2018. That’s $2 higher than San Francisco’s current minimum wage, which is among the region’s highest.

The Contra Costa Times reports businesses that pay less than 800 hours of employee wages over a two-week period were exempted from the hike, but still must pay the state minimum wage of $8 hour. But that is slated to jump to $10 per hour in 2016, though a pending bill would also raise it to $13 an hour, the highest of any state.

Supporters said the exceptions were needed to ensure businesses did not leave the city.

Opponents called them unfair and said they would create confusion.

The measure is expected to pass a second and final reading later in June.